Olivia Helms Simmons Keesee

Beginning in 1875, the Oxford Academy was established as a coeducational school by Rev. John Kellogg Harris and his wife, Chloe Bigeloe Harris. Located at 428 East Oxford Street in Floyd, across the street from Floyd Baptist Church, the current Oxford Academy building was erected in 1901 by the Reverend John Kellogg Harris after an 1898 fire destroyed the previous log school. While the school taught elementary age students, it was more widely known as a college preparatory school, recognized by the University of New York State as being equal to or above the New York high schools.
As a true co-educational facility in an era of increasing but still limited educational opportunities for women, the Academy offered an advanced line-up of courses for all students, both female and male. This attracted students from Floyd and surrounding counties. The courses taught in the school included Greek, Latin, higher mathematics, and music.
The school produced many prominent persons in the areas of medicine, law, government, and education. Among the graduates of the Academy is The Honorable Wells Goodykoontz, Congressman from the then 5th District of West Virginia, in the 66th and 67th Congresses. There is also Dr. Isaac Eldridge Huff, M.D., one of the many physicians who received a portion of their education at the Academy. John W. Simmons, who succeeded Dr. C. M. Stigleman as the second Superintendent of Floyd County’s Public Schools, also attended Oxford Academy.
It the late 1800’s, women’s educational opportunities were not advancing as fast as men’s educational opportunities. The Harrises, however, believed in teaching everyone. In an August 1896 letter, Chloe B. Harris wrote, “If I could only get $500 for the girls of the county to board themselves and come to school. It is their only chance.” Among prominent women to attend the Academy were Susan Harris, daughter of the school’s founders, and Olivia Helms Simmons, who later became Olivia Helms Keesee.
Olivia Helms Simmons was born December 4, 1870, to Roley Madison Simmons and Nancy Helms. She descended from Revolutionary War veterans, George Boothe, James Howard, and Charles Simmons. She was one of seven children, her siblings being John W., Dr. Thomas W., George W., Tazwell M., Matilda A., and Hamilton ‘Ham’, who went on to become Commonwealth’s Attorney for Floyd County from 1903 to 1917. Olivia married Charles B. Keesee on October 14, 1896, in the Floyd Methodist Episcopal Church, which was located on the now-vacant lot between the Floyd Baptist Church property and Jeannie O’Neill’s studio. She died on June 25, 1944 at the age of seventy-three.
Mrs. Keesee spent her life advancing the cause of education, especially seeking to expand educational opportunities for young people. She and her husband had no children, so upon her death, she left a substantial portion of her estate to help fund the Charles B. Keesee Educational Fund, Inc., established by Charles through his will after death in 1940. To this day, the fund continues to assist young people by providing scholarships for students seeking to receive degrees in the ministry.
Her background and devotion to education and young people led to many of her life’s pursuits. She was a true groundbreaker, serving in many roles that were not typical for women of her time. Among Mrs. Keesee’s notable achievements were serving forty years as a Sunday School teacher at the First Baptist Church in Martinsville. She was also a member of the Executive Committee of the Virginia Baptist Orphanage in Salem, Virginia, as well as a member of the Board of Trustees at the University of Richmond.
Despite her many activities and obligations, however, Mrs. Keesee never lost sight of her family roots, or of the pride in being descended from American Patriots. Based on the services of her aforementioned ancestors, she joined the National Association of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). She later served as Regent of the Patrick Henry Chapter of the DAR, then as Virginia State Regent, then National Chair of the Committee on the Correct Use of the Flag. She also became National Corresponding Secretary General of the DAR, and in the spring of 1944, she was elected Vice President General of the NSDAR. Her death in June of that year precluded her from eventually advancing to the National Society’s highest office.
Many successes throughout the lives of Mrs. Keesee and her husband led them to establish the educational fund that bears his name. In this way, she continues to serve her community and country many years removed from her own education at that small school in Floyd County.
The attainments and achievements of Mrs. Keesee were, and remain, a credit and testament to the education she received at the Oxford Academy. Because of the many activities and accomplishments that she earned after her time at the Academy, and for her work at the local, state, and national levels of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the library and genealogy room at the Oxford Academy will be renovated and will be named in her honor.
While the renovation of the Oxford Academy is on-going, anyone wishing to donate to such renovation is asked to forward the same to The Floyd County Historical Preservation Trust, Inc., c/o Michael J. Hatcher, Treasurer, 117 W. Main Street, Floyd, Virginia. Anyone who has questions concerning the project, or who wishes to volunteer for this endeavor, may contact The Floyd County Historical Society at 540-745-3247.

The Floyd County Historical Society
217 North Locust Street, Floyd, VA
www.FloydHistoricalSociety.org • 540-745-3247
info@FloydHistoricalSociety.org